Tesla sends top executive back to China amid weak sales

SAN FRANCISCO: Tesla Inc is sending executive Tom Zhu back to China, where he led the carmaker's entry into the country, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Zhu, one of the company's three named executive officers, was promoted to senior vice president of automotive in April 2023, a role in which he oversaw global production, sales, deliveries, service and the company's factories from Tesla's Austin headquarters. He previously had been based in China, heading the carmaker's Asia Pacific operations.

Representatives at Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Zhu's shift back to China was initially reported by the WSJ.


The move comes as Tesla loses ground in China's ultra-competitive electric car market. Deliveries from its Shanghai factory slumped 18% in April from a year ago to 62,167 vehicles, preliminary data from China's Passenger Car Association showed Tuesday.

The decline came even as overall new-energy passenger vehicles wholesales were estimated at 800,000 units, up around 33% from a year ago.